Take my hand, come with me

There's a land that I see where the children are free
And I say it ain't far to this land from where we are
Take my hand, come with me, where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll live

The purple book with the big cartoon letter was heavy in my hands. There were cartoon children crawling all over the title of the book. Free to Be You and Me.

In a land where the river runs free
In a land through the green country
In a land to a shining sea
And you and me are free to be you and me

I see a land bright and clear, and the time's comin' near
When we'll live in this land, you and me, hand in hand
Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song
Come along, take my hand, sing a song

My parents completely bought into the message promoted by the authors, Marlo Thomas and Carol Hart, that children needed more stories that celebrated the differences in all of us. That celebrated the whole child, not the stereotypes. That had a popular football player sing "It's alright to cry" or a story about a boy who wanted a doll. That talked about parents as people.

For a land where the river runs free
For a land through the green country
For a land to a shining sea
For a land where the horses run free
And you and me are free to be you and me

Every boy in this land grows to be his own man
In this land, every girl grows to be her own woman
Take my hand, come with me where the children are free
Come with me, take my hand, and we'll run

My brother and I make a tape recording of our favorite story, two babies meeting each other in the hospital. Marlo Thomas and Mel Brooks recorded it on the album I had (along with the book). My brother and I did a better job.

To a land where the river runs free
To a land through the green country
To a land to a shining sea
To a land where the horses run free
To a land where the children are free
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be
And you and me are free to be you and me

What's your favorite Free to Be moment or memory? Don't worry, I'll be doing this all week so feel free to let me know another day....